Food chain Pret A Manger has sold its sandwich shop chain for £1.5bn to JAB Holdings, the German private investors confronting Nestlé by rapidly acquiring companies linked to the UK’s thriving coffee market.

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JAB is the the German-controlled company behind Krispy Kreme donuts, Kenco coffee and the Douwe Egberts and Tassimo coffee brands.

Olivier Goudet, the JAB chief executive, said: “We’re very excited to partner with Pret and its talented team to continue their extraordinary growth story.”

The transaction, worth £1.5bn, was inclusive of debt. The sale will mark a lucrative exit for Pret’s owners, Bridgepoint, the UK private equity group, which initially paid £364m, including debt, 10 years ago.

The firm was said to have been considering a stock market listing of Pret but opted for a more lucrative sale. The deal values Pret at about 15 times earnings before interest and tax.

Trade buyers and private equity players, such as Carlyle and BC Partners, had expressed interest in the business. Founded in 1986 as a single shop in London, Pret has expanded to more than 500 stores across the world, marketing itself on affordable and healthy convenience eating for urban dwellers.

Pret recorded sales of £776m in 2016, an increase of 15 per cent from the prior year, according to its latest financial results, reported in April 2017. Its ebitda rose 11 per cent to £93.2m.

The company said at the time its total store count stood at 444 and that it aimed to reach 500 within a year. The chain has its largest footprint outside Europe in the US, where it has expanded to operate 92 shops but where it also faces question marks about its ability to grow further.

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Earlier this year JAB announced a deal to take control of Dr Pepper Snapple, the fifth-largest fizzy drink maker in the world, for $18.7bn earlier this year, in order to combine it with its US-based Keurig Green Mountain business.